Whatever Lurks stays in the Dark (1)
by Humox
Summary: James finds himself in a little bit of a sticky situation after his bus crashes in the middle of a forest near midnight.


**Whatever lurks stays in the dark**

Time: 00 14 hours. James was on the verge of consciousness. His droopy eyes would not remain open for much longer. Around him, the last few sights he saw on the bus was blurred images of the bus driver, his accomplice-friend Aleks beside him, fast asleep, and the several pinewood trees passing by the windows. He swore he saw a sign saying "Danger – Do not approach forest", but dare not voice out to the driver as most of the people on the bus were in deep slumber, and it would be rude to interrupt. He left his gut feeling hanging, and gave in to the tiredness he experienced. The world darkened before him as his eyes slammed shut…

Time: 02 47 hours. The bus jolted hard. It collided against a lamp post head on, leaving the bus an engine which was battered and bruised. James was thrown out of his seat, and he bashed his head hard against the seat in front of him, waking him up abruptly.

"WHUT…" James exclaimed as he got up to his feet. "Where is everybody? ALEKS!" He yelled.

Time: 02 49 hours. James searched every corner of the bus. Not a single soul was to be found. The lighting on the ceiling of the bus was flickering on and off really quickly, making it hard to see. James immediately headed for the bus driver's seat, only to find a little note at the bottom of the accelerator. He picked it up without hesitation and read its contents: "_He's gone"._

"Pssh. What is this, some kind of practical joke?" James slid it into his pocket.

Time: 02 50 hours. Then and there, James fished out his cellphone from his pocket. As the lights from his phone appeared on screen, there was not a single bar of signal.

"Great, now what," James muttered under his breath. "Right, what have I learnt from all the scary games I've played. I always grab the goods first!"

James ran around the bus, salvaging many necessities left behind by the missing people of the bus, and raided a torchlight, 2 cans of tuna, a bag of chips, some towels, a large water bottle, and whipped out his own camcorder to document the mystery as best he could.

**Entry one: "Hello everyone, James here. It looks like I'm kind of stuck here on this bus on me and Aleks' bus trip to _ Comic Con. I'm going to have to find my way out of here. But fuck! I can't find a single, God damn gun around here. Alrighty, I'll be back in a couple of minutes." *Video of James looking all about the bus***

Time: 03 00 hours. James picked up his bagpack full of stuff and walked out the bus. He then found himself in the hardest dilemma; left or right. To go back to where he came from, or continue forwards to a destination. He did the usual 'flip a coin' method to make the choice. (He doesn't trust the Eenie Minie Meeno Mo method)

"Forwards and onwards, I guess," James marched towards the general direction of forwards, hoping to seek any form of assistance or clarification as to whatever happened to the rest of the crew back on the bus.

**Entry two: "Ehhhh! What's goin on, it's me again. I've decided to continue onwards in my quest to search for Aleks and the rest of the people that was on the bus. They've gone missing, and it is MY duty to find them. James out." *Video of James pointing towards the road he takes. He adds a final shot of the crashed up bus***

Time: 04 20 hours. James has been trekking for quite a long bit now, as he followed the path of the road, and nothing seemed to be really out of place. Not a single vehicle has passed by, so James didn't put his hopes on getting a ride back. He had enough food to last for a day, and he hoped that that would be more than enough time to reach his destination. The night was cold and unforgiving; James was shivering even in his thick, long sleeve jacket and full length jeans. However, something cold seemed to emanate from the forest itself. James just couldn't put his finger on it. He trudged on.

**Entry three: "Brrrrrrrrrrrrr man it's cold out here! I've been walking for like an hour by now and I've found a whole lot of nothing. But hey, look at that beautiful moon! Okay, back to business. I hope to meet up with someone soon. Be right back!" *Video of James looking all about, pointing at the moon once***

Time: 04 37 hours.

"_James…_" an soft, eerie voice echoed from the forest.

"Aleks! Is that you?" James shouted into the forest.

"_…Yes…"_ the voice replied after seemingly hesitated.

_What the fuck's going on! _James thought to himself. The voice resembled Aleks, but it was somehow… different. There was no emotion in the few words it spoke.

"Get out here, man! We've gotta search for the others." James said.

"_No. Come in to the forest," _ a creepy 'Aleks' replied.

James knew this scene way too well to know that it would be an idiot's choice to walk right in. Some things that happened in the real world just can't be explained. He hesitated, though. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he thought about it. Save 'Aleks' and gain better survival odds, or book it, and risk getting chased by 'Aleks'? He thought about it really carefully, and made the final decision to walk right in. He left behind his area of safety, plunging head first into the absolute darkness of the forest.

**Entry four (1): "Hello guys, I've found Aleks! He's somewhere in this forest and I'm headed out to look for him, then I'm gonna whoop his ass for making me get my favourite jacket torn up by thorns and branches all around. Jesus, man, this place is dark as hell. (Turns on torchlight) I'll leave my camcorder on this time to let you see Aleks' reaction when we get to him. *Video of James flicking the camera about to grab his torchlight. Video remains on***

Time: 04 42 hours.

"Oi Aleks you still there! I'm in," James said as he traversed the forest.

-Absolute Silence-

"What, you camera shy?" James said again, as he stopped getting deeper in to the forest.

-Deafening Silence-

"If you don't show yourself, I'm leaving your ass behind!" James yelled, as the camcorder points about random parts of the forest along with the single beam of light produced by the torchlight.

-Heavy Breathing-

"Hey, that's just unprofessional, man. I made my end of the deal, come on out here." James found himself getting bolder with the camera on, and spoke more often. He looked back frequently, making sure he would not get jumped.

-Breathing stops-

"Switch off the camera and torchlights, dude. You're wasting their batteries," a normal voice of Aleks came loud and clear, somewhere East of where James was.

James bolted off towards the normal voice of Aleks, taking more glimpses behind him. All of a sudden, in the corner of his eye, he saw something move across the branches of the trees above him. He then made an instant sharp turn back out towards the road, and made it to the nearest lamp post, turning his camera in the direction of the forest leaves. Nothing. The orange, fluorescent light reflected off his face.

"Whatever the fuck's out there, stay down, I'm warning you!" James yelled at the top of his lungs.

The forest remained silent, and James jogged along the path of the brightly-lit roads yet again after switching off his camcorder.

**Entry four (2): "Whatever was out there *HUFF*, I'm telling you, is NOT Aleks. I need a weapon, and fast. This place is way *HUFF* more dangerous than anyone would have anticipated, I tell you what. I'll be back." *Video points at James' face as he talks. Little does he know that in the background of the video, a ghostly figure sticks out against the forest background – Grinning.***


End file.
